Ophthalmic lenses are used by ophthalmologists and optometrists for diagnosis and treatment of the eye. A common procedure performed by ophthalmologists is the examination of the interior of a patient's eye. This is an important procedure since variations in the appearance of the interior of a patient's eye can give an ophthalmologist important information on the health of a patient or the proliferation of a number of ocular diseases.
Commonly in an examination procedure, the ophthalmologist applies a topical drug to the patient's eye to dilate the pupil of the eye. Using a known condensing lens which the ophthalmologist holds in close proximity to the patient's eye in conjunction with an illumination system, the ophthalmologist is able to observe the interior of the patient's eye. These condensing lenses in general produce images that are useful to the ophthalmologist conducting the examination. The patient, however, must endure the various side effects of the dilation drug such as blurry vision, light hypersensitivity and poor depth perception. These side effects may persist up to several hours following an examination. Moreover, some patient's eyes do not dilate well, for example elderly patients or those taking certain medications.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,526,189, which is incorporated herein by reference, deals with a nonsymmetrical fundus observation lens or condensing lens with two aspheric surfaces which provides a means for examination of the interior of an eye and more particularly to a lens for observing a wide field of view image of the fundus of an eye through an undilated pupil.
Known ophthalmic lenses, including fundus observation lenses or condensing lenses, are generally machined and polished. Because such ophthalmic lenses are machined and polished, they are extremely costly to manufacture and cannot be produced in high volumes.
Instrument contamination and cross infection between patients is an ever present concern in the ophthalmic industry. Ophthalmic devices that must be sterilized between uses. However, this relies on personnel awareness, willingness to follow protocol, monitoring and documentation on the part of the ophthalmologist and his/her staff. Single-use devices can present a solution to this problem.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,303,116, which is incorporated herein by reference, deals with single-use, molded ophthalmic lenses that have improved optical qualities and that can be manufactured in high volumes at low costs. The lenses discussed therein have a portion that come into contact with the patient's eye and are differently-shaped than fundus observation lenses or condensing lenses.
As such, a single-use lens for use in indirect procedures, e.g. a fundus observation or condensing lens, is desirable and has not previously existed in the technical area. Additional improvements are described herein.